In addition to sophisticated video processing, Adobe’s
After Effects CS3 allows for complex text animation, ideal
for slick, professional titles.
into a timeline from beginning to end. These programs include Sony Vegas,
Adobe Premiere Pro, and its junior brother, Premiere Elements. However, this
article is primarily concerned with getting the best possible picture and sound
into those programs.
The latest iteration of Adobe’s
17-year old Premiere platform,
Premiere Pro CS3 is an
industry-standard video
timeline editing program.
Building a Virtual World Inside Your Garage
There are plenty of one-man, one-camera, one-take, unedited videoblogs
on You Tube with substantial audiences, and that’s certainly a good way to start.
But why not try to go beyond that? After all, PBS’s This Old House makes
watching homebuilding much more interesting than raw video of your local
contractor at work. On video, a smooth, tightly-edited presentation can make
even the most esoteric subject that much more approachable, particularly to
the layman. As a way to easily spruce up a one-man video production, consider
recording yourself talking about your project while standing on a virtual set.
Virtual sets take advantage of a once-reviled technology: chromakey. When
chromakey first debuted on the local television level in the mid-1970s, it was
mostly associated with weathermen clad in garish plaid polyester jackets standing
in front of cheesy maps of Poughkeepsie or Sheboygan. Of course, the goal
was to shoot the weatherman in the studio against a solid-colored background,
then electronically delete the background and insert various images, from maps
to on-location video. But very often, the key would be imprecise, causing said
Adobe’s After Effects CS3
applies Photoshop-style
photo manipulation
techniques to moving video.
A combination of a green screen backdrop and a chromakey
program allows for any number of simulated video backdrops,
including this virtual museum from Adobe’s Ultra2 program
for Windows.
Sony’s Vegas Pro 8 has
recently emerged as an
increasingly popular video
editing program.
September 2008 49
